FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT GARY MCCORD - PAGE 2

Blame it on the heat. Or Fairway Louie. What other explanation can there be for the leaderboard after the first round of this year's SBC Senior Open at Kemper Lakes? Tied for first are Gary McCord, the CBS golf analyst and the senior tour's resident jester, and Dana Quigley, one of the tour's biggest gluttons for punishment. Colleagues have been convinced for years that the two have spent way too much time in the sun. McCord and Quigley both shot 7-under-par 65s to open up a three-shot lead.

Different plot. Same result. Different, but better, supporting players. Same old Hale. Different year . . . Aw, you get the idea. If it's 90 degrees in July, if Kemper Lakes in Long Grove is the course, if the Ameritech Senior Open is back in town, a victory by Hale Irwin is as guaranteed as the rate of return on a 6-month certificate of deposit. Irwin won his tournament again Sunday. For the second year in a row. For the third time in five tries. Kemper Lakes is supposed to be one of the toughest courses in Chicago, but every year Irwin has a way of making it look as if he designed it for his personal amusement.

With one round remaining in the 37th Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, it's business as usual. Not a cloud in the sky, or a hairpiece out of place. There's no leader in the clubhouse, either, and that's customary here too. There's something about this annual marathon that lends itself to unwieldy traffic jams. A few years ago, 90 holes weren't enough to settle the argument, so they had a five-man playoff. It could be like that Sunday, when the celebrities exit stage left. No more quarterbacks, comedians, singers or Engelbert Humperdinck.

Crain's Small Business editor Robert Reed had the perfect guy in mind when he got the idea for this month's cover story by Rick G. Karr. Reed recalls Bear great Gale Sayers suffering a second knee injury that cut short his NFL career in 1971. "I remember how badly everybody felt for him," Reed said. "You can argue he was the greatest running back of his time. But here's a fella who came back and took all of his skills from the football field-the drive and the desire-and applied it to the business world.

They are as different as honey and vinegar, as Brian Wilson and Frank Sinatra. One is a 44-year-old former University of California-Riverside All-American who grew up hanging around golf courses. The other is a 60-year-old ex-British army intelligence agent who graduated from London University with a degree in English literature and Russian. But despite their disparate backgrounds, Gary McCord and Ben Wright have formed the comedy act that spices up CBS golf coverage, which is in Toledo this weekend for the PGA Championship.

When CBS first televised the Masters golf tournament in 1956, the network used six cameras. This past weekend, CBS used 28. So much for progress. Pictorially, there is nothing better than CBS' Masters coverage. The azaleas and dogwoods provide a colorful backdrop not seen on any other golf telecast. The mandated lack of commercials allow more shots of the golfers. For instance, the pictures of a tearful Ben Crenshaw hugging his caddy after Sunday's final putt were classic. Unfortunately, the problem was with the commentators.

Dana Quigley loves a good cigar almost as much as he loves playing golf. He says they relax him. Quigley usually goes through three or four stogies per round. "It depends on how early in the round I start," he said. "If I'm a little jumpy [Sunday] I might light up on the range. Heck, I might even eat one." Quigley is swallowing up the competition so far, adding a 6-under-par 66 Saturday to his opening-round 65. At 13-under 131, he takes a four-stroke lead over Jay Sigel into Sunday's final round of the SBC Senior Open at Kemper Lakes.

As a CBS producer/director for more than 30 years, Frank Chirkinian has seen more than his share of golf and golfers. So when Chirkinian starts tossing his opinions around, people listen. Especially when the opinions involve the PGA Championship and its status among the other Grand Slam events. Chirkinian's network will televise the PGA this weekend in conjunction with TBS. "I don`t see any difference between the PGA and the other majors," Chirkinian said. "There's nothing discernibly different about it. The problem is the PGA has always been accepted as kind of a stepchild.

I have to believe Teddy Greenstein isn't watching golf on TV very often, or he enjoys amateur comedians rather than astute, knowledgeable golf commentators (Tribune, June 16). Gary McCord should be banned from all golf tournaments--he thinks he is a comedian. He gives you no insight on the game of golf. He is the worst. David Feherty is not far behind and also is somewhat difficult to understand because of his accent. The only announcer/commentator who really knows what is going on and gives one interesting insight on the golf course and golf shots is Johnny Miller, who is by far the best of all the golf announcers.

J.L. Lewis turned soft greens and fairways into a second straight 6-under 65 and held a two-stroke lead in the second round of the rain-soaked John Deere Classic in Silvis, Ill. Several groups were still on the course when play was suspended. They will finish their second rounds Saturday morning, followed by the third round. Jonathan Byrd bogeyed two holes on the back nine in a 67 that left him in second place at 10 under. Vijay Singh was another two strokes back in third.